Philippinen

Just as truck drivers and longshore workers got the support of Occupy rallyists in the United States, the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) received the solidarity of Occupy protesters in Canada. Occupy Toronto activists together with Canadian airline unions held a solidarity action at the Toronto international airport Dec. 10.

Trade unions from the United States, Europe, Australia, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia, among others, have also expressed their solidarity to Palea.
“(They) are planning to hold protest actions at the Philippine consulate offices in their respective countries,” FDC said, adding that more protests, including simultaneous city and municipal actions nationwide, are being lined up for next week “as local unions and associations join the fight against contractualization.”
As for international solidarity moves, Palea welcomed the picket by Japanese railway workers at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo.
The union also announced that on October 27, US labor unions and the Filipino American community will do the same at the Philippine consulate in San Francisco.
“According to the protesters from Doro-Chiba, a railway union in Japan, a staff of the political section came out of the embassy in Tokyo to receive the letter of concern and said that the document will be forwarded to the person in charge of the embassy and then transferred to the home government. Doro-Chiba members also distributed to passers-by flyers explaining Palea’s plight and supporting the fight against contractualization,” Palea said.
The ground union added that Doro-Chiba, in its letter, asked that the Philippine government “give an adequate guidance to the PAL management to stop lock-out immediately, to reinstate all the Palea members to the original job as regular employment, and to reopen good faith negotiation with Palea, who is raising a quite justified demand to withdraw the outsourcing plan unconditionally.”http://www.sunstar.com.ph/iloilo/local-news/2011/10/16/boycott-pal-drive-goes-online-185363

7 October 2011
The ITF is calling on unions around the world to show solidarity with their aviation worker colleagues in the Philippines whose jobs are being outsourced.

Members of the ITF-affiliated Philippines Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) have been fighting the outsourcing plan, set to put 2,600 employees out of work.

Last week, the workers were forcibly evicted from Manila International Airport where they were staging a protest against the company’s decision to implement a lockout; the ITF condemned the evictions.

On 30 September, the union held a mass protest on the workers’ last day of employment with Philippine Airlines (PAL), urging the company to enter into talks with the union to resolve the dispute in the face of continuing flight disruptions.

Click here to sign a petition protesting againt PAL’s plans. To send a message of solidarity, click here. For more information about the campaign to support PALEA in its ongoing struggle visit: http://www.saveourpalsjobs.org.

Soli-Adresse von Doro-Chiba:On Sat, Oct 8, 2011 at 4:17 AM, H. Yamamoto wrote:
Dear Brothers Benjamin Velasco & Gerry Rivera,
Please find attached Doro-Chiba’s solidarity message to your courageous picket line.
Let’s fight together against all-out privatization, overall outsourcing, disguised subcontracting and casualization!
In Struggle and Solidarity,
International Labor Solidarity Committee of Doro-Chiba
H. Yamamotohttp://www.doro-chiba.org/english/english.htm
Die Antwort von PALEA:Greetings of solidarity! Thank you for the message, we will circulate this to PALEA members in the picketlines.
Is it possible to organize a picket of Philippine Airlines (PAL) offices or Philippine embassies in Japan? We know that it is not an easy thing to do but it will be a great help to put pressure on the company and the government.
PAL has offices in Tokyo, Osaka, Narita Airport, Kansai Airport, and Chubu and Fukuoka airports in Nagoya. There is a Philippine embassy in Tokyo.
Again thanks for the support and goodluck to your struggle against contractualization and privatization of the railways.
Comrade Benjie

Folgender Appell aus den Philippinen liegt vor:Philippines: Urgent Appeal for Solidarity re PALEA Strike
The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) appeals to all union brothers and sisters, as well as all who support just wages, job security and safe work conditions, for solidarity as it continues its struggle against an outsourcing plan that will lay off 2,600 employees and downgrade them from regular to contractual hires.
On September 27, PALEA launched a sit-down strike at the airport and other offices that paralyzed the operations of Philippine Airlines (PAL), the national flag carrier.
The response from PAL and the Philippine government was the forcible eviction by a combined force of police and security guards of the striking workers. The workers have been locked out since then and terminated from their jobs on October 1. But despite this dispersal of protesting workers, PAL has been unable to resume normal operations. This illustrates the failure of the outsourcing plan and the militancy of PALEA’s resistance.
PALEA is demanding that PAL open talks to resolve the labor dispute. The lockout must stop, the outsourcing plan should be scrapped and the workers should be allowed to return to their jobs as regular workers.
To keep up the pressure on PAL and the government, PALEA has setup picket lines outside the international airports of Manila and Cebu, the two biggest cities in the country. Every day more than a thousand workers man the pickets in shifts.
PALEA needs your moral and logistical support.
We ask for solidarity messages and actions. Even the simplest expression of support will help sustain the high morale of PALEA members at the picketlines.
If possible, we call for delegations to and/or pickets at embassies or consulates of the Republic of the Philippines to convey concern for the plight of PALEA in order to maintain pressure on the government to heed workers’ rights and demands.
Lastly, we appeal for logistical support. It costs PALEA around US$1,500 daily just to feed its members and supporters who sustain the protest camp. Although donations from fellow PALEA members, other PAL employees such as the cabin crew, labor groups and other organizations defray some of the costs, the logistical needs of the picket lines and such other mass activities as rallies are depleting the union’s funds, especially since management stopped remitting dues since October 1.
Donate online via the website of Partido ng Manggagawa [Labor Party-Philippines]:http://laborpartyphilippines.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=21&Itemid=43
Or send donations by bank to:
PALEA Strike Fund
Account Number 00008-057-00403-9
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC)
Quirino Ave., Baclaran, Paranaque City, Philippines.
International support from labor groups and advocates will go a long way in sustaining and winning this fight. Help us end outsourcing and contract hire.